A century from skipper & King Edward VII School Old Boy Graeme Smith and a half century from Alviro Petersen helped South Africa fight back on day two of the second test against Australia in Adelaide. This 100 for Graeme marks his 26th Test 100, a fantastic Captain innings!

The Proteas dug in deep to make it to 217 for two at stumps, still 333 runs behind Australia’s first-innings score of 550. Smith (111 not out) and Petersen (54) got off to a really good start after South Africa dismissed the Australians just before lunch, as a mini-collapse saw the hosts lose five wickets for 68 runs. The South African openers safely negotiated a tricky 15 minutes before the lunch break and the pair eventually managed to put on a 138-run opening stand before Petersen was the first to fall.

There were some nervy moments for the Proteas’ skipper, though, but he was saved by the review system. The on-field umpire had given Smith out caught behind off James Pattinson, but the decision was reviewed immediately and HotSpot showed nothing. After much deliberation, the decision was over-turned and Smith continued on his merry way.

“The margin for error is so small on this wicket but we had a lot of positivity going into the second day and we believed we could fight our way back into the game. If we just sit back and think the game is over then we’ll lose in three or four days,” Morkel said.

“But that’s not the way we play our cricket, we are proud South Africans and we fight hard at all times.

“I think Saturday will be a very exciting day. The third day of a test match is usually the ‘moving’ day and we are hoping for a couple of big partnerships and we’ll take it from there. Graeme is a man for the big occasion and we are in good hands with him at the crease. The King Edward Community will be hoping that Graeme can go on and lead the Proteas to a great and formidable Second Test win over the Australians.